United States Ninth Circuit

Imposing two consecutive 25 years to life terms on a defendant convicted of petty theft who had seven prior non-violent crimes under California's Three Strikes statute violates the 8th Amendment's ban on cruel and usual punishment.

Appellate Information

• Argued 05/25/2001
• Decided 11/02/2001
• Published 11/02/2001

Judges

• Before:  SCHROEDER, Chief Judge, and SNEED and PAEZ, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Erwin Chemerinsky, University of Southern California Law School, Los Angeles, California, for the petitioner-appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Robert M. Foster, Deputy Attorney General, and Douglas P. Danzig, Deputy Attorney General, San Diego, California, for the respondents-appellees.